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PDF of Seek Ye The Lord
Seek Ye The Lord
Lesson by Cindy Trainor, 4-22-2007
Zephaniah 2: 1-3
Gather yourselves together, yea, gather together, O nation not desired; Before the decree bring forth, before the day pass as the chaff, before the fierce anger of the Lord come upon you, before the day of the Lord’s anger come upon you. Seek ye the Lord, all ye meek of the earth, which have wrought his judgement; seek righteousness, seek meekness: it may be ye shall be hid in the day of the Lord’s anger.
The Lord speaks to us about time, meekness and righteous in the above verses.
Time - Seek ye the Lord before time is up. Time is not unlimited. Our Father in heaven has chosen a time. The Bible teaches us that no one knows the hour except the Father. We have all heard the expression God doesn’t promise you tomorrow so make good use of today. So in other words use the time you have been given wisely before the day passes by as chaff.
Seek Meekness – Why is this human characteristic worthy of note? Our impression of people who are meek is that they usually are not self absorbed. Persons who are meek do not demand their own way. They do not speak harshly or with vulgarity. They do not carry tales. They are not thieves and they usually do not commit adultery. The dictionary defines meekness as gentle, mild, not violent or strong, enduring injury with patience and without resentment. It sounds to me that people who are meek are self controlled, disciplined, and thoughtful of others. In today’s world many would believe that meekness is not a human characteristic to strive for. No one wants to give away their power. A meek person is perceived as a weak person. A person once told me never to say Yes Mam or No Mam, Yes Sir or No Sir because when I did this I was giving away my power. My way of thinking was by maintaining civility, etiquette and manners I was not losing power but gaining it. Although actually the idea of power never really came into my way of thinking until they mentioned it. I was merely behaving the way I was taught. When we review the attributes of meekness we see meekness really isn’t about self. I don’t think people who are meek are self absorbed. I am sure this is why seeking meekness was encouraged. They are as the dictionary described: gentle, mild, enduring with patience. The Bible also tells us the meek shall inherit the Earth. It is not something they are going to take, there is no work they will be doing to get it. They will be inheriting it. It will be a gift from God.
Seek Righteousness – Righteous is defined as acting in accord with divine or moral law: free from guilt or sin, morally right, justifiable, genuine. Following the rules – why do so many people disregard the rules? The hospital where I work provides free parking in a parking garage. All hospital employees were instructed to park on level ten or above. But each day as we go to the garage most employees park on lower levels of the garage. Why do they believe it is okay for them to go against the rules? God gave us a set of rules also -The Ten Commandments. Lots of people believe they only have to pay attention to the New Testament because when Jesus came the world changed and the Old Testament was no longer relevant, but Jesus said he did not come to do away with the law but to fulfill it. Jesus followed the rules, why won’t men? I guess people like short cuts. They want things to be easy. They think following rules isn’t necessary for them. We hear the justification, “Everyone else is doing it, why can’t I? It won’t hurt anything.” But rules were made for a reason. God would not give us rules for no reason. Your parents say don’t play in the street. They want to keep you from getting hurt. God’s rules keep us and others from being hurt. God is good. So are his rules. Seeking righteousness means we are attempting to follow after God’s rules and to come into covenant with him. The bride by definition must be in covenant with the Lord. It is imperative that we rid ourselves of the three spots that the Lord has revealed to us. We must confess Christ properly and teach others to do the same. We must tithe properly and we must compare spiritual things to spiritual things. Zephaniah explains that we want to do these things so we can be protected and hid in the day of the Lord’s anger. We must allow Jesus to be in charge of the things he is doing in the Earth today. We must be meek and allow him to deliver us out of the world through our obedience to him.
Matthew 6: 24-34
24 No man can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon. 25 Therefore I say unto you, Take no thought for your life, what ye shall eat, or what ye shall drink; nor yet for your body, what ye shall put on. Is not the life more than meat, and the body than raiment? 26 Behold the fowls of the air: for they sow not, neither do they reap, nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feedeth them. Are ye not much better than they? 27 Which of you by taking thought can add one cubit unto his stature? 28 And why take ye thought for raiment? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow; they toil not, neither do they spin: 29 And yet I say unto you, That even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. 30 Wherefore, if God so clothe the grass of the field, which to day is, and to morrow is cast into the oven, shall he not much more clothe you, O ye of little faith? 31 Therefore take no thought, saying, What shall we eat? or, What shall we drink? or, Wherewithal shall we be clothed? 32 (For after all these things do the Gentiles seek:) for your heavenly Father knoweth that ye have need of all these things. 33 But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you. 34 Take therefore no thought for the morrow: for the morrow shall take thought for the things of itself. Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof.
When we study the verses above the thoughts of power and time come up again. The Bible is teaching us to depend on God, to seek after his kingdom and to follow his rules. Some think when you do this you are giving up your power, turning away from yourself. Well, I guess we are. The Bible teaches us to turn from self. It teaches us to have charity or love in our hearts and to do unto others as we would have others do unto us. It tells us not to worry about tomorrow for tomorrow will have it’s own issues. It is teaching us to live each day we have righteously, to seek after God and not things of man and for this God promises you that he will supply you with all the things you need.
A Song Given Concerning Mount Zion
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